Germany is racing to speed up its military buildup after President Trump ordered the withdrawal of 5,000 of the 35,000-plus US troops based there and cancelled a planned long-range missile deployment -- retaliation for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's apparent criticism of the US over the Iran war. Berlin, which has pledged hundreds of billions of euros to build Europe's strongest conventional army, must lift its forces from about 186,000 toward a target of 260,000 active troops plus 200,000 reservists, and is pressing Washington to sell Tomahawk cruise missiles to offset its lack of deep-strike weapons against Russian Iskanders in Kaliningrad. European partners remain wary of a militarily dominant Germany, even as talk grows of a 'coalition of the willing' with France, Italy, Poland and the UK.

A German court on Monday sentenced Syrian national Mahmoud B., 36, to life imprisonment for a quadruple attempted murder in 2025 motivated by Islamist convictions, the Düsseldorf prosecutor's office said. The man was found guilty of four counts of attempted murder as a member of a foreign terrorist organization. In May 2025, he stabbed customers at a bar in Bielefeld who were celebrating their football club's promotion, wounding four people before being arrested.

German journalist Eva-Maria Michelmann, detained in Syria since January 2026, is in poor condition according to her lawyer, who reports she has lost weight and was subjected to torture and round-the-clock interrogations. A German Foreign Ministry representative visited her on April 23 in a Damascus prison, but no further visits have been permitted by Syrian authorities. Her lawyer calls for urgent medical oversight and warns her situation is highly concerning.

Germany's €500 billion special infrastructure and climate fund fell short of its 2025 spending targets, disbursing only about €24 billion of the planned €37.2 billion, a shortfall of roughly one-third. The Finance Ministry's monitoring report noted progress in housing and digitalization but lagging indicators in energy infrastructure, R&D, and transport. The Greens criticized the allocation, calling for more targeted and effective spending, especially in energy infrastructure, digitalization, and R&D. The fund is estimated to have boosted short-term real GDP by 0.5 percentage points.

The Administrative Court of Hanover rejected an emergency motion by the AfD in Lower Saxony, allowing the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution to provisionally upgrade the party to an 'observation object of significant importance'—effectively classifying it as a confirmed right-wing extremist entity. The court found evidence of agitation against human dignity, democracy, and the rule of law, as well as links to extremist party factions. The AfD can appeal.

Germany's Federal Statistical Office reported that net migration fell 45% in 2025 to approximately 235,000, driven by a 67% drop in net migration from Syria, 41% from Afghanistan, and 21% from Ukraine. Total arrivals decreased 13% to 1.48 million, while departures fell 2% to 1.25 million. More Germans emigrated than returned, with top destinations being Switzerland, Austria, and Spain. Internal migration showed Brandenburg gaining residents while Berlin lost 12,000 people.

The German defense ministry has admitted a mistake after a legal opinion by the Bundestag's Scientific Service found that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius exceeded his authority by suspending a requirement for men aged 18–45 to obtain permission for foreign travel over three months. The opinion states that only the Constitutional Court can suspend a law, not the executive, and that the ministry's general decree created a permanent exemption without legislative basis. The ministry acknowledged the error and is now drafting an amendment via the Reserve Strengthening Act to restrict the rule to tension or defense cases, but parliamentary approval remains pending.

Background: Chancellor Friedrich Merz has faced low approval ratings and renewed speculation that NRW Minister-President Hendrik Wüst could replace him as CDU chancellor candidate. At a CDU conference in Meschede, Merz and Wüst appeared together in a show of unity. Wüst publicly pledged his full personal support and that of the entire NRW CDU to Merz, calling recent leadership speculation 'nonsense.' Merz did not address the rumors in his speech but praised Wüst's state government. Despite the public display, internal party sources reported ongoing dissatisfaction with the black-red coalition's performance and low poll numbers. The conference also included sessions on public sentiment and polling data, with expectations of continued challenges in upcoming state elections.